Similar meanings of ‘Although’ and ‘Despite’, students often get confused between the two words while attempting the GMAT Verbal. However, if you pay attention to grammar rules, the usage of the two words is quite different. You cannot replace one with the other without modifying the sentence. This article will help you understand the difference and use the ‘Although” and ‘Despite’ correctly in a sentence while preparing for the GMAT Verbal:
1 – What is the role of “although” and “despite” in a sentence on the GMAT Verbal?
The two words bring a contrast between two segments in a sentence. But that is where the similarity ends. The two play slightly different roles in a sentence in terms of the sentence structure. Here are a few examples of the various uses of ‘although’ and ‘despite’ on questions from the GMAT Verbal.
1.1.1 “Although” is a conjunction or a connector that joins two clauses.
E.g.,
Although he secured high marks in the entrance examination, Joseph could not get admission into the University of his choice.
In the above example, there are two clauses:
Clause 1: (Although) he secured high marks in the entrance examination – this clause provides additional information about some entity in the main clause.
Note 1: how do we know it is a clause? Because it contains a Subject-Verb pair ( He – secured)
Clause 2:Joseph could not get admission into the University of his choice. – This clause supplies the primary information of the sentence.
Note 2: How do we know it is a clause? Because it contains a Subject-Verb pair ( Joseph – get)
Thus, we can see that “although” is joining two clauses.
1.1.2 “Despite” is a preposition (followed by a phrase) that modifies either the subject or verb in subsequent/preceding clause.
E.g.,
Despite the summer heat, the children were enjoying playing in the afternoon sun.
In the above example, there is only one clause and a phrase.
Clause:The children were enjoying playing in the afternoon sun.
Prepositional phrase:Despite the summer heat.
Thus, the prepositional phrase is modifying the action “were enjoying” in the clause.
So, primarily “although” plays a connector role, whereas “despite” plays the role of a modifier.
Let’s see how “although” is used in a GMAT Verbal sentence.
1.2 – How to use “although”?
As discussed above, “although” connects two clauses. Thus, “although” is always followed by a subject and a verb (a clause)
The structure is: Although + subject +verb
Let’s look at some correct usages of “although” on the GMAT Verbal:
Although the fever had subsided, Mary felt too weak to get up.
(Although + fever + had subsided)
I have not lost any appreciable amount of weight, although I have been exercising almost daily.
(Although + I + have been exercising)
Susan’s manager never praised her, although she always delivered quality work.
(Although + she + delivered)
Note: As shown above, “Although” does not always have to come at the beginning of a sentence. It can come in the middle as well. The structure remains the same, though.
Let’s look at some incorrect usages:
Although the fever having subsided, Mary felt too weak to get up (Although + fever + ? instead of a verb, we have an “ing” verbal)
I have not lost any appreciable amount of weight, although exercised almost daily.
(although + ? no subject + exercised )
Susan’s manager never praised her, although delivering quality work.
(Although + delivering (can be taken as the subject in the gerund form) + ? no verb)
Let’s now see how “despite” is used in a sentence.
2 – How to use “despite”?
“Despite” starts a prepositional phrase. Thus, “despite” always follows an expression containing a noun or pronoun or a verb + ing.
The structure of “despite” in a GMAT Verbal question is:
Despite/in spite of + noun phrase/pronoun
Despite/in spite of + verb(ing)
A structure where subject + verb can come after despite is as follows:
Despite/ In spite of +the fact that+ clause (subject + verb)
Despite /in spite of + noun + that + clause (subject + verb)
Let’s look at some correct usages:
Despite the summer heat, the children enjoyed playing in the sun. (Despite + the summer heat)
Despite having a busy schedule, Johanna gives enough time to her children. (Despite + having a busy schedule)
Despite the fact that she was late for the appointment, Carol took a lot of time getting ready for it. (Despite + the fact that + she + was late)
Despite the storm that was brewing not far away, the mountaineers continued to follow the trail up the mountain. {In spite of + the storm + that + clause (mountaineers + continued)}
Jason has caught a chill despite staying indoors
{despite + verb(ing)}
Note: As shown above, “despite” does not always have to come at the beginning of a sentence. It can come in the middle as well. The structure remains the same, though.
Let’s look at some incorrect usages:
Despite there was summer heat, the children enjoyed playing in the sun.(Despite + subject + verb)
Despite she has a busy schedule, Johanna gives enough time to her children.(Despite + subject +verb)
Despite the fact that being late for the appointment, Carol took a lot of time getting ready for it. (Despite + the fact that +verb-ing)
In spite of the storm was brewing not far away, the mountaineers continued to follow the trail up the mountain. (In spite of + subject + verb).
Now that we have understood the difference between the two, let’s see the usage in an official question.
3 – “Although and Despite” in action in a GMAT Verbal question
Despite its covering the entire planet, Earth has a crust that is not seamless or stationary; rather, it is fragmented into mobile semirigid plates.
(A) Despite its covering the entire planet, Earth has a crust that is not seamless or stationary; rather, it is
(B) Despite the fact that it covers the entire planet, Earth’s crust is neither seamless nor is it stationary, but is
(C) Despite covering the entire planet, Earth’s crust is neither seamless nor is it stationary but rather
(D) Although it covers the entire planet, Earth’s crust is neither seamless nor stationary but rather
(E) Although covering the entire planet, Earth has a crust that is not seamless or stationary, but
Solution
Step 1: Understanding Intended Meaning
Despite its covering the entire planet, Earth has a crust.
“Despite……planet” is a prepositional phrase modifying the noun “earth”. The phrase has a possessive pronoun “its”. Given the proximity, “its” should be referring to “Earth”.
This is illogical – the Modified entity (Me) and the modifier (M) do not agree logically. We need to figure out what is ‘covering the entire planet.’ ‘Earth’ cannot cover Earth.
So it must be the Earth’s crust that the modifier phrase starting with “despite”.
We could restructure the sentence in the following manner:
Despite covering the entire planet, the Earth’s crust […]
(“its” becomes redundant)
that is not seamless or stationary,
The correct structure is “neither X, not Y” and not “Not X or Y.”
Here we have a parallelism error.
So, the Earth’s crust is neither seamless nor stationary; rather, it is fragmented into mobile semirigid plates.
We need a connector that will connect the two clauses and indicate a contrast as well.
“Rather” cannot connect two independent clauses which are incorrectly separated by just a comma –
Correct version: but rather …..fragmented into mobile semirigid plates
Intended meaning:
The Earth’s crust covers the entire Earth.
Despite covering the entire Earth, the crust is neither seamless nor stationary.
Rather, the crust is fragmented into mobile semirigid plates.
Step 2: Eliminate choices with identified errors
Checking for five aspects
Golden rules
MeM does not agree logically
Meaning
Conveys illogical meaning
Lists
Tenses
No error
Idioms
Incorrect use of the structure “neither X nor Y.”
Eliminate
The following choice/s have one or more of the errors present in Choice A.
Choice E
Step 3: Evaluate the meaning of the remaining choices.
Do for Option B, C and D. Detailed out below each choice.
Choice A Analysis
Incorrect and Eliminated in Step 2
Choice B Analysis
Fitting in the original sentence
Despite the fact that it covers the entire planet, Earth’s crust is neither seamless nor is it stationary but is fragmented into mobile semirigid plates.
Correct structure of “despite” {despite + the fact that + it(subject) + covers(verb)}
However, there is an error of parallelism.
Neither X = neither seamless (adjective)
Nor Y = is it stationary (clause)
These entities are not parallel.
The right idiom should be “neither x nor y”, not “neither x nor is y.”
Also, the verb “is” follows the subject, “it”, a structure found in several questions.
The verb “is” is redundant after “but.”
Incorrect Choice.
Choice C Analysis
Fitting in the original sentence
Despite covering the entire planet, Earth’s crust is neither seamless nor is it stationary but rather fragmented into mobile semirigid plates.
Correct sentence structure for “despite” {despite +verb-ing)
The parallelism error is similar to that in choice B.
Incorrect Choice.
Choice D Analysis
Fitting in the original sentence
Although it covers the entire planet, Earth’s crust is neither seamless nor stationary but rather fragmented into mobile semirigid plates.
Correct sentence structure of “although” (although + it + verb).
Parallel idiomatic expression – “seamless” follows “neither” an adjective, and “stationary” follows “nor”, another adjective.
Logical
Clear,
Same as the intended meaning
Correct Choice.
Choice E Analysis
Fitting in the original sentence
Although covering the entire planet, Earth has a crust that is not seamless or stationary but fragmented into mobile semirigid plates.
Incorrect structure of “although” in the above example {although +verb-ing phrase)
Other than that, the error is similar to that in choice A.
Table of Contents
Similar meanings of ‘Although’ and ‘Despite’, students often get confused between the two words while attempting the GMAT Verbal. However, if you pay attention to grammar rules, the usage of the two words is quite different. You cannot replace one with the other without modifying the sentence. This article will help you understand the difference and use the ‘Although” and ‘Despite’ correctly in a sentence while preparing for the GMAT Verbal:
1 – What is the role of “although” and “despite” in a sentence on the GMAT Verbal?
The two words bring a contrast between two segments in a sentence. But that is where the similarity ends. The two play slightly different roles in a sentence in terms of the sentence structure. Here are a few examples of the various uses of ‘although’ and ‘despite’ on questions from the GMAT Verbal.
Also Read: How to Score 700+ on the GMAT
1.1 Difference from the point of view of the role
1.1.1 “Although” is a conjunction or a connector that joins two clauses.
E.g.,
Although he secured high marks in the entrance examination, Joseph could not get admission into the University of his choice.
In the above example, there are two clauses:
Clause 1: (Although) he secured high marks in the entrance examination – this clause provides additional information about some entity in the main clause.
Note 1: how do we know it is a clause? Because it contains a Subject-Verb pair ( He – secured)
Clause 2: Joseph could not get admission into the University of his choice. – This clause supplies the primary information of the sentence.
Note 2: How do we know it is a clause? Because it contains a Subject-Verb pair ( Joseph – get)
Thus, we can see that “although” is joining two clauses.
1.1.2 “Despite” is a preposition (followed by a phrase) that modifies either the subject or verb in subsequent/preceding clause.
E.g.,
Despite the summer heat, the children were enjoying playing in the afternoon sun.
In the above example, there is only one clause and a phrase.
Clause: The children were enjoying playing in the afternoon sun.
Prepositional phrase: Despite the summer heat.
Thus, the prepositional phrase is modifying the action “were enjoying” in the clause.
So, primarily “although” plays a connector role, whereas “despite” plays the role of a modifier.
Let’s see how “although” is used in a GMAT Verbal sentence.
1.2 – How to use “although”?
As discussed above, “although” connects two clauses. Thus, “although” is always followed by a subject and a verb (a clause)
The structure is: Although + subject +verb
Let’s look at some correct usages of “although” on the GMAT Verbal:
Note: As shown above, “Although” does not always have to come at the beginning of a sentence. It can come in the middle as well. The structure remains the same, though.
Let’s look at some incorrect usages:
Let’s now see how “despite” is used in a sentence.
2 – How to use “despite”?
“Despite” starts a prepositional phrase. Thus, “despite” always follows an expression containing a noun or pronoun or a verb + ing.
The structure of “despite” in a GMAT Verbal question is:
Despite/in spite of + noun phrase/pronoun
Despite/in spite of + verb(ing)
A structure where subject + verb can come after despite is as follows:
Despite/ In spite of +the fact that+ clause (subject + verb)
Despite /in spite of + noun + that + clause (subject + verb)
Let’s look at some correct usages:
Note: As shown above, “despite” does not always have to come at the beginning of a sentence. It can come in the middle as well. The structure remains the same, though.
Let’s look at some incorrect usages:
Now that we have understood the difference between the two, let’s see the usage in an official question.
3 – “Although and Despite” in action in a GMAT Verbal question
Despite its covering the entire planet, Earth has a crust that is not seamless or stationary; rather, it is fragmented into mobile semirigid plates.
(A) Despite its covering the entire planet, Earth has a crust that is not seamless or stationary; rather, it is
(B) Despite the fact that it covers the entire planet, Earth’s crust is neither seamless nor is it stationary, but is
(C) Despite covering the entire planet, Earth’s crust is neither seamless nor is it stationary but rather
(D) Although it covers the entire planet, Earth’s crust is neither seamless nor stationary but rather
(E) Although covering the entire planet, Earth has a crust that is not seamless or stationary, but
Solution
Step 1: Understanding Intended Meaning
Despite its covering the entire planet, Earth has a crust.
that is not seamless or stationary,
Intended meaning:
Step 2: Eliminate choices with identified errors
Checking for five aspects
Eliminate
The following choice/s have one or more of the errors present in Choice A.
Choice E
Step 3: Evaluate the meaning of the remaining choices.
Do for Option B, C and D. Detailed out below each choice.
Choice A Analysis
Incorrect and Eliminated in Step 2
Choice B Analysis
Fitting in the original sentence
Despite the fact that it covers the entire planet, Earth’s crust is neither seamless nor is it stationary but is fragmented into mobile semirigid plates.
Incorrect Choice.
Choice C Analysis
Fitting in the original sentence
Despite covering the entire planet, Earth’s crust is neither seamless nor is it stationary but rather fragmented into mobile semirigid plates.
Incorrect Choice.
Choice D Analysis
Fitting in the original sentence
Although it covers the entire planet, Earth’s crust is neither seamless nor stationary but rather fragmented into mobile semirigid plates.
Correct Choice.
Choice E Analysis
Fitting in the original sentence
Although covering the entire planet, Earth has a crust that is not seamless or stationary but fragmented into mobile semirigid plates.
Incorrect Choice.
More on the GMAT Verbal
Also Read: GMAT Verbal SC- ‘Because of’ and ‘Due to’ Practice Question #1
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